> Zuiko meaning "Wonderful View" in old Japanese.
> So, what do you all think about this new interpretation?
> Francois Rossi
Hi Francois,
I'm not an enthusiast (just a looong term OM user with a bunch of
bodies and lenses), but it was me who made a suggestion for Hans to
revise the description in the eSIF. This is SOME of the information
I mailed to Hans. I snipped a lot but still long, sorry. I hope
Hans will not mind posting this to the list.
**********************
Subject: Origin of Zuiko
I was reading the Olympus Company History in your Unofficial Olympus
OM Sales Information site and noticed a tiny, tiny error in the
description about the origin of the name "Zuiko". I don't care so
much but maybe this is important for some enthusiasts?
Zuiko is an abbreviation of "Mizuho Kogaku-kenkyujo" (Mizuho Optics
Lab?). Chinese characters for "Mizu" and "Ko" turn into "Zui" and
"Ko" when they are put together. Characters for "Takachiho" is not
included in "Zuiko".
As you know, the spelling and pronunciation of "zuiko" is identical
to another Japanese (maybe Chinese originally) word meaning "a light
showing a good omen" or "lucky light" or something like that.
> (Hans) Would "the origin of light" also be a valid translation? I
> believe that's what's the Olympus System Lens Handbook says..
mmmmmmmmmmmmmm ... origin of light ... sounds like a lamp bulb or
the sun. I wonder why Olympus translated that way. At least, this is
not the way described in most of our dictionaries. The character
"zui" itself means "auspicious, or propitious sign" but not "origin"
so in common sense I think "origin of light" is 99% an improper
translation. In word-for-word translation, zuiko is "auspicious
light" or "propitious sign light". I don't know if there is an
equivalent English word.
AFAIK, in Japanese books Olympus usually don't refer to the other
meaning of zuiko so we understand that (officially) their lens' name
just happened to be same as the common word zuiko. Of course we
believe that Olympus intentionally invented a name that has two
meanings, but they never mentioned to the Japanese people.
> (Hans) An even better translation might be 'Golden Light'! This is
> indeed a term that's used in photography to indicate the warm
> smooth light that can be experienced in the early morning or late
> afternoon, as contrast to the harsh sunlight around noon. And
> 'gold' obviously is also associated with wealth, fortune,
> prosperity etc.
Wait, please, wait. I'm not sure everyone (in Japan) will agree with
"golden". I feel something missing or strange. Okay, I'll give you
more hints. Be patient please.
The left part of the Chinese character "zui" is a symbol indicating
a "gem". A king in ancient China gave a pyramid shaped gem to the
feudal lords as an evidence of their position. This is why "zui"
turned into a character that means "a sign of good luck".
Now I imagine Olympus considered this way:
"Zui" is a shiny pretty gem reflecting light. So "zui" is the origin
of that light. But then, "zuiko" should be the *light* reflecting
from the gem, not the gem itself!
(BTW, the symbol for gem is sometimes used for things like crystal
balls and lens elements. Lens elements are gems!)
"Zui" also means "fresh-looking, juicy, beautiful". Then, "mizuho"
(mizu = zui, remember) means "young, green, rice plant ears" and
this is a symbol of the beauty of Japan. Maybe like tulips in your
country?
But, in Japanese, we rather use "golden" for grown-up and withered,
ready-to-crop rice, because of their color. We also say wheat fields
in autumn is "golden" too. We have a slightly different feeling on
the word "golden".
"Zuiko" is a very rarely used word, almost never found in modern
literature. A rather formal or good-ol' ancient Chinese word, maybe
like a Latin word. So I think it doesn't have to be translated into
a common or friendly word, if you don't want to spoil the original
taste of the word, IMHO.
>(Hans) Yes, well the obvious problems are that Zuiko is not a
>common modern word and that is does not have a counterpart in the
>English language that has *exactly* the same meaning *and* feeling
>or association. If you literally translate it into 'auspicious
>light' or 'prosperous light' like you suggested you will still
>loose part of its meaning since these are (AFAIK) not existing
>expressions; one could only guess what is meant by it, but never
>associate it with any gems or kings...
>That is why I suggested a little bit of freedom in the translation:
>'golden light' is an existing expression that can be understood by
>photographers,and has positive associations for speakers of the
>English (!) language just like Zuiko has for speakers of the
>Japanese or Chinese language.
>Now the problem with free translations is that you just can't
>translate them literally back into the original language, because
>then the original meaning would certainly be lost.
Am I troubling you so much? If so, please forgive me. Well, I was
rather enjoying looking in dictionaries and figuring out meanings of
words. Such activities are a part of my Zuiko hobby.<g>
Back to the beginning, zuiko is simply defined as "a light showing a
sign of auspicious events". It doesn't have to remind gems or kings.
Such knowledge is important only for professors and linguists. If
you can imagine this from "golden light", then it's OK. I believe
zuiko can be any kind of a beautiful light, depending on the person
who sees it.
I just thought that the Zuikoholics and Zuikohobbists might be a
little bit happier if they know Zuiko means more than "origin of
light".
******************
Hope ... this ... helps ... !!!
kazuya matsumoto
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